The present invention relates to a method and apparatus employing a vending machine concept to permit large scale rapid dissemination of centrally stored information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system wherein purchasers at various vending machine locations can obtain recordings of selected information stored at a central station. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described herein as utilized for the sale of commercial audio recordings; it is to be understood however that the present system is applicable to the distribution and sale of virtually any stored information, be it audio, video, etc.
The commercial recording industry, while immensely profitable, has a number of logistics problems. For example, the recording companies often cannot produce and distribute sufficient copies of extremely popular recording within a period of time that is fast enough to take advantage of the popularity peak for the recording. Invariably there are lost sales by virtue of the fact that some consumers cannot obtain copies of a recording until after the popularity of that recording has ebbed. Another problem for the recording companies is the large investment required in materials, labor and equipment for reproducing thousands and sometimes millions of copies of a recording.
On another scale, the retailer of commercial recordings, in order to provide his customers with a large selection, must have a considerable inventory investment. Quite often, because of changes in the popularity of various types of music, the retailer is left with stock that can only be sold below the retailer's cost.
Another phase of the problem in the recording industry may be viewed from the point of view of the consumer. Often, in the case of very popular recordings, the consumer must wait to obtain his copy because the retailer is temporarily sold out. Another problem faced by the consumer is his lack of choice in selecting the recordings he wishes to purchase. Specifically, the vast majority of recordings are albums containing a number of musical selections. If the consumer wishes to obtain copies of only one or two of the selections in an album, he is often forced to purchase the entire album because the desired selections are not available as single records. From the consumer's point of view it would be highly desirable to permit him to group various individual recordings to form an album of his own choosing.
It is therefore a broad object of the present invention to provide a system and method for distributing recorded information to consumers wherein the aforementioned problems are eliminated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method whereby a recording company can place its product on the market almost immediately while only producing a relatively small number of recording copies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for distributing commercial recordings to the public which permits the retailer to avoid large investments in record copies.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for distributing recordings to the public wherein the consumer can always obtain a copy of a currently popular recording.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for distributing recordings to the public which permit the consumer to group individual recorded selections into an album of his own choice.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for rapidly and efficiently disseminating advertising messages.